Oscillating electric heater



R. G. RONK OSCILLATING ELECTRIC HEATER April 9, 1968 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed July 12, 1965 FIG. 3. 5

FIG. 5.

April 9, 1968 R. e. RONK I OSCILLATING ELECTRIC HEATER 2 Sheets- Sheet ZFiled July 12, 1965 F l G. 2.

WITNESSES= J45 INVENTOR Richard G. Ronk BY W ATTORNEY United StatesPatent 3,377,465 ()SCILLATING ELECTRIC HEATER Richard G. Ronk,Bellville, Ohio, assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation,Pittsburgh, Pa., 21 corporation of Pennsylvania Filed July 12, 1965,Ser. No. 471,167 3 Claims. (Cl. 219-366) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Aheater including a housing having therein an air heater and a mechanismfor causing the housing to oscillate relative to a support base. Themechanism includes first and second relatively slidable members in thehousing. The first member is coupled to the base to preclude movementtherebetween and is provided with an elongated slot. The other member isrigidly secured to the housing and supports a rotary motor driving arotatable drive means having a pin received in the slot in the firstmember.

This invention relates, in general, to heating apparatus and, moreparticularly, to portable room heaters, commonly referred to asspace-heaters.

Heretofore, the effectiveness of portable space-heaters, as such, hasbeen somewhat limited, in that, the heat patterns thereof aresubstantially unidirectional and consequently spotty. For example,conventional constructions comprise stationary housing structures withheating elements fixedly mounted therein and in a cold wall construction(i.e. forced air), have a unidirectional fan or duct-like arrangementdirecting the air over the heating elements.

Accordingly, it is the general object of this invention to provide newand improved heating apparatus.

It is a more particular object of this invention to provide in anappliance, such as a portable space-heater, for example, means forvarying the orientation of the heating elements thereof with respect toa fixed reference point.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improvedoscillating space-heater.

Still another object of this invention is to provide mechanism foreffecting oscillatory motion.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent asthe following description proceeds and features of novelty whichcharacterize the invention will be pointed out in particularity in theclaims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a portable spaceheater representingthe invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view, of the heater illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side view of mechanism for producing oscillatorymovement of the housing structure of the heater with respect to itssupporting base;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary front view of the mechanism shown in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line VV of FIG. 3.

Referring to the drawings, especially FIGS. 1 and 2, reference characterdesignates generally a portable space-heater comprising a base member 11supporting a housing structure 12.

The base member 11 comprises a four-legged stand 13 and a collar member14 having a substantially vertically oriented cylindrical bore 16therethrough. The collar member is pivotally supported on a roll pin 17carried by a pair of upstanding spaced apart brackets 18 which partlybroken away,

brackets are rigidly secured to the stand 13. One end of a tilt rod 19,supported for axial movement by a pair of spaced apart brackets 21,serves as one element of a ratchet mechanism, which together with aplurality of teeth 22 in the surface of the collar member 14, providemeans for locking the collar in a plurality of positions with respect tothe vertical axis. A knob 23 is provided at the opposite end of the tiltrod 19 by which axial withdrawal of the end of the tilt rod from theteeth 22 may be accomplished. A helical spring 24 carried by the rod 19intermediate one of the brackets 21 and a plurality of bosses 26 servesto bias the end of the tilt rod into its locking position between two ofthe teeth 22 and together with the bosses 26 serves to secure the tiltrod 19 to the brackets 21.

A support shaft 27 rotatably supported in the cylindrical bore 16 isprovided with an annular groove, not shown, in its lower end, whereinthere is disposed an E ring 28 which along with flange means 29 couplesthe shaft 27 to the collar member 14. The upper end of the shaft 27 isthreaded for receiving a nut 31 which serves to secure the shaft to ahat-shaped bracket 32 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) which is, in turn, secured tothe bottom wall 33 of the housing structure 12 by suitable fasteningmeans 34.

The hat-shaped bracket 32 which is one of a pair of relatively slidingmembers is provided with an elongated slot 36, one in each of itsvertical walls, for receiving a substantially fiat rectangular platemember 37 which is the other relatively sliding member. An L-shapedbracket 38 suitably attached to the plate 37 and a link arm 39 securedthereto, rigidly connect the collar member 14 and, therefore, the stand13 to the plate member 37, consequently, the plate member remainsstationary at all times during operation of the heater 10. The platemember 37 is provided with a vertical elongated slot 40',

see particularly FIGS. 24, adapted to receive a pin element 41 carriedby a rotating drive wheel 42. The drive wheel is adapted to beselectively driven by transmission means 43 (see FIG. 2), the power forwhich is supplied by motor means generally indicated 44. As seen in FIG.2, one end of the rotor shaft of the motor means 44 is coupled to thetransmission 43 while the other end thereof carries a fan 46 adapted toinduce air flow through a screened inlet, not shown, in the rear wall 47of the housing structure 12, over the walls of a reflector structure 48surrounding a heater or air warming assembly 49 and through an outletgrill 51 comprising the front wall of the housing structure. The heaterassembly and motor means are supplied with household current via aconventional power cord and electrical conductors which have beenomitted from the drawings for simplification thereof.

Supported by the top wall 52 of the housing structure 12 is amulti-purpose switch assembly 53 including push buttons 54 forenergizing the heater assembly 49 and the motor means 44,simultaneously, once the power cord, not shown, has been plugged into anelectrical outlet. The circuit through the switch assembly 53 to theheater assembly is completed through conventional thermostat controlmeans generally indicated 56, the control point of which may be manuallyvaried by means of a thermostat control knob 57. The switch assembly 53-and the thermostat control 56 are mounted to the top wall 52 and acarrying handle 55 also mounted thereto facilitates moving the heater 10from one place to another. A cantilevered weight is adapted to break thecircuit through the contacts of the thermostat control 56 in the eventthat the heater 10 is inadvertently tipped over.

The top end of an actuating rod 58 extends from Within the housingstructure 12 through the top wall 52 and is adapted to receive a knob 59by which the rod is manipulated. The rod 58 is rotatably supportedintermediate its top and bottom ends by a spring 61, one end of which issupported by the top wall of the hat-shaped bracket 32 and the other endof which abuts one end of a leaf spring 62 which, in turn, abuts a pairof pin members 63 radially protruding from the circumference of theactuating rod 58. The helical spring 61 biases the rod 58 which is freeto move axially upward when not locked in its operative position.Locking of the rod in its actuating position is effected throughengagement of a pair of posts 64 carried thereby, with the underside ofa flange 65 of a supporting bracket 66. The flange 65 is provided with aslot 67 through which the posts 64 pass upon axial displacement of theactuating rods 58.

Downward movement of the rod 58 causes flexure of the leaf spring 62,the other end of which is disposed in an annular groove 68 in the hub 69of the drive wheel 42. Flexure of the spring 62 effects axialdisplacement of the drive wheel 42 to the right as viewed in viewed inFIGS. 2 and 3 whereby a pair of opposed pin elements 71, only one shown,carried by a shaft 72 of the transmission 43, are received in recesses70 in the end of the hub 69 whereupon the drive wheel 42 is coupled tothe transmission means 43 for rotation therewith or thereby.

Rotation of the drive wheel 42 through the pin element 41, adjacent thecircumference thereof, tends to move the plate member 37, which as washereinabove pointed out is rigidly fixed to the collar 14 of thestationary base member 11. Since the pinelement 41 cannot move the plate37, the force transmitted thereto is transmitted to the hat-shapedbracket 32 through the transmission means 43 and a bracket 73 mountingthe transmission means to the bracket 32. This transmitted force effectsrotation of the hat-shaped bracket, and, consequently, the housingstructure which is mounted to the rotatable support shaft 27, the degreeof rotation being limited by the size of the drive Wheel 42 and thedistance from the center thereof of the pin element 41, which in thiscase will be capable of producing sixty angular degrees of rot-a tion.It should be clear that the rotation of the drive wheel 42 will produceoscillating motion since once 180 it will reverse the direction ofmovement of the hatshaped member and, consequently, the housingstructure 12.

While there has been shown and described what is present is consideredto be the preferred embodiment of the invention, modifications theretowill readily occur to those skilled in the art. It is not, therefore,desired that the invention be limited to the specific arrangements shownand described and it is intended to cover in the j appending claims allsuch modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. Heater apparatus comprising:

housing structure having air warming means therein,

a base member supporting said housing structure for rotation,

a pair of relatively slidable members in said housing structure,

a rotary motor having an output shaft,

drive means supported by said shaft for rotation therewith,

one of said relatively slidable members having an elongated slot thereinand said drive means having a pin member received in said elongatedslot,

the other of said relatively slidable members being rigidly attached tosaid housing structure and rigidly supporting said rotary motor,

means for coupling said one of said relatively slidable members to saidbase member for preventing relative movement therebetween, wherebyengagement of said pin member in said slot creates a force which istransmitted back through the pin member, drive means, rotary motor, saidother of said relatively slidable members and said housing structure,said transmission of said force causing said housing structure tooscillate relative to said base member.

2. Structure as specified in claim 1, wherein said base member comprisesa stationary member and a member adjustable relative to said stationarymember,

said adjustable member being connected to said housing structure throughsaid other of said relatively slidable members.

3. Structure as specified in claim 1 wherein said drive means is axiallyslidable on said motor shaft and said motor shaft and said drive meansare provided with means for selectively coupling said drive means tosaid shaft,

and means supported by said other of said slidable members for effectingcoupling and uncoupling of siad drive means and said shaft.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,334,501 11/1943 Moeller 219-3772,391,964 1/1946 Green 219370 2,473,325 6/1949 Aufiero 230-256 X2,549,523 4/ 1951 Reisch.

ANTHONY BARTIS, Primary Examiner.

